Lisbon Day 3

Day three I was determined to be out the door on my way early! I had a quick breakfast in the train station and then headed out to Belem. Belem is A neighborhood that is about a 30 minute train ride from central Lisbon. This is where the famous Tower of Belem is, as well as the most famous Pastel de Nata bakery! 

The tower does not actually open until 10am for you to go inside, but if you want photos with no people get there early! Also lineup right at 10am if you’re planning to go tour inside as they only allow 120 people inside at time which is why the line moves so slowly. I enjoy history so touring the inside was fun for me! I learned that a rhino had been given to Portugal by India is 1513, can you imagine seeing a rhino for the first time?!

This is the interior of the Belem Tower, and the views are really nice! You can also see the copy cat of the Golden Gate Bridge from here!

From the Tower of Belem it is a short walk over to Pasteis de Belem, which is the most famous bakery for the Portuguese egg tart known as Pastel de Nata! I had read online about the queues being really long, I walked right inside placed my order and had 6 fresh out of the oven pastel de natas in less than 5 minutes! I did go before noon, I think as the day goes on a line probably does form. I had had a few pastel de natas at the hotel before trying these, I have to say these were better, flakier and crispier and of course the custard was warm and fresh! 

My plan after this was to go to the Jéronimos Monastery, that quickly changed when I got closer and saw the line! It was at least an hour of waiting in the open sun! There were seriously people everywhere getting a decent photo due to people was even a challenge. So if you are visiting Lisbon learn from my mistake! Go to Belem Tower early for photos, skip going inside and head to the monastery instead. I was pretty bummed about missing this, as it’s said to be spectacular! 

I took the train back to central Lisbon with no issues! Later that afternoon, I met a girl who lives in Lisbon by way of St. Petersburg that I found on Instagram! She was so sweet and knew of all the good photo spots from the hill tops and recommended a great rooftop bar as well as a dinner spot! You absolutely must try vino verde, and do yourself a favor and just buy the whole bottle at the restaurant!